Check the boy out! Surfing at 13 months without a handle! OK....dad helped a little, but he looks pretty good!
Last Saturday we had a birthday party for Austen. He turned 1 year old on Monday. Oh how the time flies! I didn't want anything too over the top because I wanted to enjoy the party too. All in all, the birthday party turned out real well. We didn't have too much or too little food, and even though it was not warm outside, it didn't rain. I thought that the house would be too crowded with the weather not being the warmest, but there was room for everyone. We were able to see some friends we had not seen in a while and we were happy to be able to share Austen's first birthday with family and friends.
Austen is great at getting into things. He always gets into the recycle and chews on things like pop cans and yogurt containers, I was doing the dishes and I turned around because I thought I saw him bending into the box and when I turned around he was sitting in the box! It was so funny...he was just chompin away at the yogurt container. We kept him in his PJ's until just before the party for things just like this that would make his outfit all dirty.
Gift time! He wanted to just eat the paper once he wripped it off!
He loves this little car from his Aunt Kimberly and Uncle Jon. It's a tow truck from the movie "Cars" and it talks and drives across the floor on it's own. He just chases it around the house! 
When it came to the cake Austen was due for a nap. He cried until I put the cake in front of him and then it was time to explore what was in front of him. He was more interested in the gooey frosting than in eating the actual cake. Then he was just getting bored so he rested his arms on the cake and got it all over his arms. We knew it was over when he rubbed his eyes from being so tired. Bath time!! Oh, and the best birthday gift of the day? A shirt from Mike and I to Austen. It says "Big Brother: AKA In charge" Thhaaaaaaaaats right! We are pregnant again! We couldn't believe it either, but I'm due in January. Some days I'm not sure if I'm ready for two kids, but we are excited. I try and remind myself I have 7 months to prepare!
Okay, I know I have been slacking on updates BIG TIME so here are some quick pics to update you guys on the past three months, and then I'll get to the current stuff! We went to California at the end of March over Eater because my brother was having his second son's baby blessing. While we were there we were able to see some good friends we had not seen in a long time. For some reason there are no pictures of this trip except for our lunch with Grandma Lowe. We went out for lunch and she just LOVED Austen. How could you not?
This is just a messy faced boy after he hit the spoon I was feeding him with and knocked food all over...and then rubbed his face with his hands. I can't believe how big he is getting!
Bath time! He took baths a lot better then than he does now, he is just too squirmy to sit in the tub for more than 30 seconds. It doesn't matter what toys are in there...he wants to get out and run around naked. But at ten months, baths were great:)
The bookshelf is the first place he goes in the office, and he pulls out books and throws them on the floor.
Austen is standing all on his own! Yay! (he is walking now so this is not as exciting...but back then this was our daily entertainment!)
These pics are from my neice's wedding in April. Doesn't he look so handsome? If he does not have a big on...almost at all times, the shirt he is wearing is soaked in a half an hour tops. Some days we go through three bibs! When does the drool stop!
He was dancing to the music it was so cute. He is all ready for bed and still groovin with his cousin Jessyca! She loves Austen so much she never leaves him alone! Playmate for life!I have to give a little update on Austen to those of you who are not close enough to see him. As you can see in the Easter picture he is adorable, and he is a happy little kid. What you can't see, is his mischief side. He loves crawling and moving everywhere, especially to things that he can grab onto to so he can pull himself up. Most of the time it's fun to watch. But it also creates problems. Bonked heads and bruises.
He has pretty good balance, but still has had four bruises on his face and forehead in the past month. Falling is pretty much the norm now, the poor little kid can take a beating (from the floor and chairs, not us). I am now having problems trying to change his clothes and his diaper. He wont lay still and always has to look over the edge of the changing table at who knows what...the floor maybe? He now has an interest in cords, so lamp cords or computer cords are exciting. I can just imagine a floor lamp falling over on top of him if I'm not paying attention. He gets into everything and it's even getting harder at church. He wont sit still! He wants to jump and move around the whole sacrament meeting! Going from Mike to me, to Mike and then to me again like he can't make up his mind. I gets tiring. He is always a happy boy though, that is one of the many things I am grateful for. I guess curiosity takes over from here on out, can't wait for the walking to start! Any advice is welcome :)
I might be biased, but you have to agree that this has got to be the cutest kid that you have ever seen!
We just love this cute, happy kid!
But it wouldn't be an Austen and Mason get together without a little Mason instigated cry!
I was tagged by Andrea, so here are my answers!
A. The rules of the of game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names and then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and that they should read your blog.
10 years ago.....
1998....I was a 14 years old and was a freshman at Renton High School! I just finished my first season of varsity volleyball and was playing on the Freshman team for basketball, and then on the varsity team for softball. I was still quite a tom boy in the sense that I did not wear makeup and jeans and a t-shirt were my everyday attire. Oh, and I can't forget that big puffy coat I wore everyday. I still did not have braces so my teeth were a little (a lot) crooked but still was able to make a lot of friends. I hung out with Chantelle, Katie, Jessica, and Magda for lunch in the cafiteria everyday where some pretty crazy stuff went on. You just never know at Renton. And just for fun, I'll mention that while I was a freshman in high school, Mike was home from his mission and in Chiropractic school. :)
5 things to do on my list today....
1. Feed Austen breakfast, lunch and dinner.
2. Update my blog:)
3. Go into work (yuck!)
4. Get my binder from the church because I forgot it on Sunday!
5. Play some volleyball!
Snacks I enjoy....
I love chips, fruit, celery and peanut butter, candy/chocolate, cookies (especially the ones that Lisa makes), ice cream (vanilla or rocky road), potstickers, egg tarts, pinapple buns, taro milkshake, cereal, almond soup, and salmon cranberry sandwiches.
What would I do if I were suddenly a billionaire....
Tear down my house and build a new one.
Pay off everything that we owe money on, and help family members get out of financial situations.
Travel through Europe again for a couple of months, go to Samoa, New Zealand, and Africa.
Go on a few shoping sprees.
Buy a horse and hire someone to take care of it.
Buy Mike a viper, or whatever his dream car is at the time. Pay for my parents to go on a mission and another one after that, and as many as they want.
3 of my bad habits....
1. Sleeping in.
2. Biting my nails.
3. Watching Law and Order
5 places I have lived
1. Seattle, Washington
2. Provo, Utah
3. Bellevue, Washington
4. Hopefully France for a few years when we are old!
5. ?
5 jobs that I have had....
1. Family Fun Center- cashier
2. Corporate Moving Co.- mover and packer
3. BYU Vending- inventory
4. Firstech, LLC- desk stuff
5. Back and Neck Pain Centers- front desk, billing, and bookkeeping
5 things people don't know about me
1. I hate being wet- getting out of the shower, after swimming...etc. (usually)
2. My hands and feet are always cold
3. I'm legally blind...contact prescription is -11.0 in my left eye, and -11.5 in my right!
4. I can make myself cry pretty well.
5. I used to pretend I was in ballet like my bestfriends growing up, and I would run around the lawn like I was in a production...when in reality, I was just a little tom boy...:)
I am tagging Lisa H, Kristy W, Michelle B, Kimberly L, Megan B!
Here are some random pictures of Austen. He is getting so big! He is up in crawling position and up on his hands and toes in push up position! My strong little man. He crawls army style, and has two teeth on the bottom. He claps his hands and jumps up and down when you hold him, and can pick up cheerioes with his pincer grasp! He always cries when Mason does, and he is all over the place now. Mike and I just LOVE HIM!
We had Grandma give Austen a bath when we were over there for lunch one day. He is a little big for this sink, but he kept himself occupied while she washed him. Anything and everything near his mouth ends up inside of it.
He looks like he is thinking..."Can I help you?"
Smile son! Everyone is watching you bathe!
So Austen is just so dang cute! This is one of his cute little outfits he wears to church with his brown little shoes. Of course he kicks those off pretty easy but we still put them on his feet anyways. Do you like how his hair is long and hangs over his ears?...I gave him a little trim a little later.
This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago. Almost six months and as handsome as ever! I am surprised at the clothes he fits into. I don't have him wear things because I think they look too big on the hanger. When he puts them on they are perfect! Mike put him in this outfit for church and it's so cute! How could I have passed it up? I have to remember putting them in an outfit while it is still a little big allows him to wear it more before he grows out of it. I'm still learning.
So he couldn't take his eyes off of the camera, which made it a little hard to feed him because he wouldn't look at the spoon. In fact, I can't feed him in the bumbo chair at all. Everything distracts him and he won't sit still. I have to hold him on my lap with his arms in lock down so he doesn't try and grab the spoon or the bowl. 
The drool caught in action!! It's so funny to see him try and to suck the food...and in the process push it out of his mouth with his tongue. He has come a long way from the first feeding.
You could tell when he was done, because he would close his eyes and shiver like he was eating the most disgusting thing in the world! I started using formula with the cereal after this, so I didn't waste any of my precious own!
The drool caught in action!! It's so funny to see him try and to suck the food...and in the process push it out of his mouth with his tongue. He has come a long way from the first feeding.
You could tell when he was done, because he would close his eyes and shiver like he was eating the most disgusting thing in the world! I started using formula with the cereal after this, so I didn't waste any of my precious own!
Austen was a little puppy for his first Halloween! He was so cute. I had his nose painted black but he would rub his face with his little paw...and his hands go straight in his mouth now a days. So I had to wipe it off. It was a pretty cute costume for a last minute purchase.
So I made a little trip down to San Jose to visit my brother DeLoy and his family. This was his first time seeing and meeting Austen, so it was a fun trip. It was so cute to see Mark and Austen together. Mark was such a good little cousin. He would sit next to Austen on the couch and keep him company, and when Austen was laying on the floor he would make sure Austen had his toys, and binki. One time he even came up to me while I was feeding Austen and tried to put his binki in Austen's mouth. He couldn't see that his mouth was already occupied...haha.
In this picture you can see the green crocs at the bottom...Mark loves his crocs. He wanted to wear them all the time. Even to bed...and even when all he had on was a diaper! It was so funny.
Mark didn't need the pillows to keep himself sitting up...but he wanted to do whatever Austen was doing. I hope they grow up close to each other...even though they will be states away from each other...(I'm frowning DeLoy) ;)
While I was in California. We went down to a pumpkin patch. It was so cool, I don't think I have ever been to a pumpkin patch before. I just thought it would be a patch of pumpkins. But it was so much more!
There were little train rides for the kids, and a pumpkin contest (the winning pumpkin was 1388 lbs), and a carousel. There was a corn maze and tons of things to do there! I can't wait 'til Austen is older and can enjoy the things they have at these pumpkin patches!
On Saturday we took a little trip North to wonderful San Francisco. We had a little picnic at a park next to the Bay. DeLoy swears it was Golden Gate Park, but it wasn't. It was Cypress Park or something like that. A cute little park. There was a good crowd of people and it was a beautiful day! We really lucked out with the weather.
Can you even tell that Michelle is pregnant in this picture?
So there is this man called the Bush Man. He sits on the sidewalk next to the water, and when people walk by he shakes the bush and shouts to scare them. It's pretty funny to see their reactions. What I don't get, is how people are still scared by him when there is a big crowd of people standing around the Bush Man to watch. When you see a crowd of people wouldn't you wonder what they are there for and pay attention? But without fail...people would walk by and take a few steps back when he scared them. It was hilarious!
Okay, so there were these break dancers showing their stuff on the corner. I was kneeling down so that the other people could see behind me...and one of the guys takes of his shirt as he is skipping around the circle trying to get the crowd pumped up. It fell right in my lap pretty much and I held it up like I just caught something in the crowd at a concert or something...haha. It was great.
That is sourdough bread. This is at a famous sour dough bread shop. They sell soup in a bread bowl and things like that. You could even buy bread in the shape of an animal. It was pretty amazing. It was a lot of fun visiting my brother but it was also the first trip I took with Austen by myself. Boy did I feel like a single mother after the first day. Mike usually comes home late when I am putting Austen to bed, so I didn't think it would matter much. Oh am I thankful for the time Mike spends with him in the morning! What an extra half an hour of sleep can do!
So tickets to Hawaii are so cheap right now! Mike found some for $230 or so round trip and so we made a little trip down to Kauai! I guess right now they are even as cheap at $150 round trip on Alaska. It was Austen's first plane ride...and as you can see from the picture...it was a breeze! I just popped the binki in his mouth during take off and landing and he was a happy little boy.
One of the lookouts over the island.
Austen took about a day or so to adjust to the heat and humidity. He just didn't know what to do with the stickiness!
A little beach volleyball can give a great workout!
And so after a while (I don't want to work too hard on a relaxing vacation) I took a break with Austen. Just lounging back on the beach! So nice. Although it was hard taking Austen to hot place at such a young age...he can't really be out in the sun! Especially a hot hot sun like Hawaii's sun. Too young for sun...too young for sun screen. So extra caution had to be taken. You can probably guess how much sun time I got....hardly any! I was totally bummed about that. Who goes to Hawaii and doesn't just want to lay out at the beach?! Just one of the many small things you don't realize you have to sacrifice when you have kids! Don't get me wrong he is totally worth it. The adjusting just continues. I told Mike that vacationing will never be the same. They won't necessarily better or worse...just different. I now know why people take babysitters on their vacations with them:) Something we might have to consider when we have more kids. Either that or Grandparents house! You gotta love the Grandparents!!It's Me!
Stay and Chill a bit.....
